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R. B. REYNOLDS. v

Breech-Loading Ordnance. No. 40,121. Patented Sept. 29,. 1863.

F l Ml I a e WITNESSES:

NVPErERS, PHOTO-UTMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C. l

Haitian rates meme tribe.

BO-BERT B. REYNOLDS, OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY.

IMPROVEMENT 1N BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,11 2i], dated September QO, 1863.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that 1, ROBERT B. REYNOLDS, of the United States Navy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech- Loading Ordnance; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referen ce being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a central longitudinal vertical section of a cannon constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section in the plane indicated by the line y y, and seen looking toward the muzzle.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The gun represented is made of cast-iron, with a wroughtiron re-enforce or breech-caslng, A, extending forward to the trunnionsj 9', which are formed upon or in the same piece with the said re-enforce; but my invention is applicable to guns made wholly of cast-iron or of any other metal. To provide for load .ing at the bree ch the bore is continued right through, as shown in Fig. 1. The movable breech-piece B is composed of a blOCkOf steel or other metal, which may be of the form of a frustum of a quadrangular pyramid whose sides are very slightly taper, or of a frustum of a wedge, the sides in the latter case being parallel and the front and back slightly tapering upward. Thisbreech-piece is fitted to a mortise, O, of corresponding form, provided in the gun for its reception, the said mortise extending right through the wall of the gun below the bore and a short distance into the wall above, and its width in a direc tion transverse to the here should be rather greater than the caliber, in order that the breech-piece in firing may be supported at the sides of as well as above and below the bore. The upper end of the said breech-piece is hollowed out, as shown at a in Fig. 2, to coincide with the caliber of the gun, that when it is lowered to open the bore for loading it may form-a continuation of the lower half of the bore and support the charges and projectiles on their way from the portion b of the bore in rear of the breech-piece, which may be termed the introducing-chamber, to the regular chamber in front of the breech-piece.

On opposite sides of the mortise 0 there are formed upon or rigidly secured to the under part of the gun two lobes, (Z d, for supporting a horizontal rock-shaft, G, which is arranged This rockdesirable length for the toggle. The rockshaft is furnished at one end, or at each end, if desirable, with a hand-lever, D, by which to'turn it for the purpose of opening and closing the breech-piece. By raising or pushing forward the said lever or levers the toggle is bent forward, as shown in red outline in Fig. 1, and the breech-piece drawn downward and opened, and by drawing back the said lever or levers the toggle is straightened and the breech-piece forced upward or closed. But instead of allowing the toggle'to stop in or before it comes to the straight position, I allow it to pass that position a short distance, as shown in Fig. l in black outline, and bring up or stop against the back part t" of the mortise i in the breech-piece, by which means the breech-piece is locked securely in its closed condition, especially against any tendency to force it open by the leakage of gas at its upper end or by the shock of the discharge, as any tendency to force it down would tend to bend back the toggle, and this is effectually prevented by the stop formed by the back of the mortise i in the breech-piece. The rockshaft 0, by being arranged directly under the breech-piece B, is made to serve as a stop to the said piece in its opening movement and to support the said piece in its open condition, as shown in red outline in Fig. 1.

. By the above arrangement of and mode of operating the sliding breech-piece all obstruction to the sighting of the gun is obviated, and the working parts, by being mostly brought below the, gun, are in a great measure protected from injury by shot entering the ports.

My system of boring and riding is illustrated by Figs. 1, 3, and at. The bore may be said to be divided into three portionsviz., the rifled portion is Z, the chamber 1 m, which contains the charge and projectile when loaded,

The greater and the introducing chamber b. The rifled portion 7a Zis taper toward the muzzle, the caliher at the muzzle being just large enough for the body of the projectile to pass through it, and the caliber at the back part 1 and that of the whole length of the chamber Z m exceeding that at the muzzle by double the intended greatest depth of the grooves a n." The introducing-chamber b is of the same caliber as the chamber 1 m; but its mouth may be countersunk or made slightly bell-shaped, to facilitate the entrance of the charge. The grooves n n are cut with their bottoms at uniform distances from the axis of the bore throughout their whole length, and hence, owing to the taper of the portion is Z of the bore, their depth increases toward the muzzle; or,in other words, they have a taper the reverse of that of the bore, the depth at the muzzle being such that they terminate entirely or vanish at Z, where the cylindrical chamberl m commences. This system of boring and riflin'g does away with the many complicated packings that are in general use upon rifle-projectiles, and simply requires athin band of any proper material to be cast or otherwise fixed around the cylin- .;drical portion ofthe projectile. As the'projectile advances along the bore the outside packing is literally squeezed into the grooves, insuring a perfect suppression of windage, and conse 'quently great accuracy in firing. The grooves require to be of less depthto effect therotary motion, and their 'shallowness prevents them from so much weakening the walls of the piece; and

is applicable to small-arms aswell as to 0rd 7. V

nanoe.

I do not claim, broadly, operatinga sliding breech-piece by means of a rock-shaft, a lever,

and toggle; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement, with the exterior and 1 lower portion of the gun, of the lobes d d, rock-shaft O, toggle e 9, stop i, and breechpiece B, operating together in the manner herein shown and described.

a. B. REYNOLDS.

\Vitnesses: I

W. R. BENNETT, THEO. WILD. 

